


Andromeda? How Original...

by Doevademe (OriginalDaemon)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Nico is tied up to a rock, Nico's life is a cliché, Pre-Slash, This is an excuse for a post-BoO talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 18:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7812322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OriginalDaemon/pseuds/Doevademe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico gets it.<br/>No, really, he did. After nearly 3000 years of thinking up trials and quests, he got just how difficult it was to come up with new material.</p>
<p>But did that really mean he had to be bound to a rock and wait passively until Percy Jackson, of all people, dealt with a Sea Monster?<br/>Yeah... he didn't think so.<br/>And just when he thought he really couldn't hate Eros anymore than he already did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Andromeda? How Original...

You know what? Nico understood.

No, really, he did. After nearly 3000 years of thinking up trials and quests, he got just how difficult it was to come up with new material.

So you send your son to take some fruit from the Hesperides. You task your daughter to defeat the Nemean Lion after it has reformed once again. You ask for something that requires a ship to go through the Sea of Monsters. Heroes, with their huge daddy and mommy issues, need to prove themselves and show their stuff. And that’s _okay_.

What’s _not_ okay is to chain him to a rock by some random beach with no way to shadow travel away to prove some sort of point. And said point was not even to him or to whoever his savior is supposed to be! Oh no, this is an argument between gods he never asked to be involved with!

His blood boiled as he recalled how he came to be in this predicament

* * *

 

_The last thing Nico remembered was falling asleep on his ridiculous coffin bed back at camp. Yet, as he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the middle of a pure white room with a line of thrones not unlike those in Olympus._

_On the thrones, various figures seemed to be arguing, ignoring him completely._

_“—late effect? The boy seems to have changed in his affections, after all,” a girl with long hair said, looking at the others with utmost disinterest._

_“Nonsense! I can feel it even now. The longing is as strong as it’s ever been,” one of the men countered, his dark brown wings ruffling at some perceived offense._

Wings…

_Nico startled, finally awake as he looked closely at the people arguing on the thrones. Aside from the girl and a feminine boy, all of them sported beautiful wings of different kinds. Russet, grey, brown, teal and even one with butterfly wings._

_While his Mythomagic days were mostly over, he still remembered most details out of habit, and it had come in handy when defeating a monster or two. The Erotes were a set of Minor God cards, meant to complete an Aphrodite deck and were weaker than most other gods. However, what made them useful was the effects they had on Hero and even some Monster cards._

_It enchanted them with love._

_As if thinking the word was a call, a new figure with pure white wings manifested and sat on one of two empty thrones._

_Cupid’s red eyes were as cruel and merciless as Nico remembered them, and they were looking straight at him._

_“Lord Eros,” Butterfly wings greeted. Anteros, Nico guessed, god of requited love._

200 attack, disable a hero who’s been target of another’s enchantment.

_The others stopped in their argument and gave a slight inclination of the head in respect. Cupid (Eros?) raised a hand in acknowledgement, but his eyes remained glued on Nico._

_“Nico di Angelo,” Cupid said as he opened his arms in welcome. Nico just glared at him. “It seems our last encounter has caused quite the stir amongst mine.”_

_“I have nothing to say to you.” Nico muttered darkly._

_“It’s not me you have to talk to. Anteros and Himeros are the ones you have to answer to.”_

_Grey Wings’ feathers ruffled, the ribbon tied on his head going from a sultry red to a muted pink._

Himeros, god of Lust and Unrequited love. 150 attack, Enchant a Hero with a non-allied card.

_“It’s just ridiculous, brother. Anteros saw as well as me when he was hit by your lead arrow.”_

_“And yet, here he is. Longing, yearning, as if brother’s arrow had missed its mark,” Brown Wings said in a tone Nico could only call overdramatic._

Pothos, God of Longing, 150 attack. Enchant a Hero card for 5 turns.

_“He seems to no longer be in love, Pothos. That longing is all that remains,” Teal Wings commented. Nico was almost embarrassed to admit he racked his brain for his name or stats, but came up with nothing._

_“That something remains is what intrigues me, Hedy,” Anteros said amiably. “We may have stumbled upon something unique here.”_

_“Then by all means, let’s see what it is,” A new, familiar voice cooed._

* * *

Nico knew he was meant to be rescued by someone, but wasn’t certain who. As Hedylogos (the god with teal wings he had been unable to identify) told him, Andromeda’s prophecy in particular had been one of love.

“Offer the princess and the monster will stop its attack,” Nico repeated to himself. If the King and Queen hadn’t done so, Perseus wouldn’t have seen her and fallen for her, he wouldn’t have defeated the Cetus, and her city would have kept on being attacked. It _sort_ of made sense to prove love this way.

That didn’t mean it didn’t majorly suck.

He just hoped whoever his Prince Charming was, he hurried before he ended up being sea monster chow.

“Nico?”

_Of course it’s him,_ he thought bitterly. Because really, what in his life is not related to Percy Jackson at this point?

“Yeah, it’s me,” Nico said, he rattled his chains a bit as he tried to turn his body to face the son of Poseidon.

“Are you… tied up?” Percy asked as he came closer, sword drawn out.

“Actually, chained is more accurate,” Nico said in complete deadpan. “Can you break me out before—?”

The roar was deafening enough to cut through his sarcasm. From the ocean, a giant Snake had emerged and was approaching rapidly to the shore, mouth big enough to devour him whole. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, his only comfort being proving Eros wrong.

* * *

_Aphrodite was as beautiful as ever, with luscious black hair and pretty green eyes that made Nico’s chest hurt._

_“If sweet Nico’s heart is as impressive as you believe, let’s put it to the test,” She sang happily. “A love so deep has to be answered in some way, doesn’t it, Anteros, dear?”_

_“That’s my belief, Lady Aphrodite,” he answered._

_“Don’t I have a say in this?” Nico said loudly, tired of being ignored._

_“Of course you do,” Peitho, the only other girl, said. “Do you prefer to be cursed? Poisoned, perhaps? Imprisoned in a tower is a favorite of mine, but a little antiquated.”_

_“What?”_

_“The only way to not be affected by Eros’ lead arrows is for the target to be loved,” Hermaphrodite said as he (they?) looked at him in a completely neutral expression. “Yet, how can that be, Nico di Angelo, when your feelings, according to the fates, are meant to be unrequited? That, is why we’re arguing.”_

_“Love begets pain, but also more love. When it has taken home in two hearts, you can’t kill it by only dulling half of it.” Eros said as his red eyes glinted, like an evil Valentine’s light up card. “In fact, I have found the perfect test to settle this debate.”_

_Before Nico could protest, he felt his eyelids close and his consciousness leaving him._

\--

He opened one eye tentatively, only to find Percy hacking and slashing at the snake.

The creature didn’t seem hurt by it, but it swished its tail, annoyed by Percy’s attacks.

“Look out!” Nico shouted as the snake apparently lost its nerve and revealed its tail to be only one of eight massive tentacles it could use to whack Percy with. Because, why not? This particular snake came with tentacles. That made sense.

“What even is this thing?” Percy said as he attacked one of its newly revealed appendages, only for Riptide to bounce right off.

“It’s a Cetus! The original Perseus beat one of these with Medusa’s head!”

“Oh great! I’ll ask my mom where she left my spare Medusa head, I’m sure she can send it over by express mail or something!” Percy shouted as he dodged the snake’s fangs.

“I’m just trying to help! You won’t be able to beat it alone!” Nico retorted, annoyed. Stubborn Percy Jackson was definitely the most easy to _not_ be attracted to.

_“This monster is fated to be felled by love,”_ Hedylogos had explained once he had woken up. He was checking on his bindings with a couple tugs. _“If the beast dies to you and your beau, Himeros and I will accept defeat. We hadn’t actually used this method since Andromeda’s prophecy, you know? It brings back memories.”_

“Well, think of something else to help! I kind of have my hands full right now!” Percy was hit by one of the tentacles seconds after, if he hadn’t been in the water, Nico was sure it would have left a mark.

Nico wracked his brain for a solution. He wasn’t Annabeth, but he still believed he was pretty clever when it came down to it.

Trying to follow the monster’s fate was a surefire way to fail. While a part of him still felt… _something_ for Percy, he was sure the Son of Poseidon felt differently. The monster wouldn’t die if the people fighting it didn’t love each other. The only option, then, was to break his chains and escape the monster with Percy… or let himself be eaten so the Cetus would be satisfied.

It was obvious which option appealed to him more.

He opened his mouth to tell Percy to focus on getting him free, but immediately he felt his throat close up and his eyes fog.

Anteros appeared before him, his expression apologetic.

“I’m afraid that would defeat the purpose of this test, Nico di Angelo,” The god said in a low voice. Nico somehow knew Percy couldn’t see or hear him, because his life was one cliché after another when it came to gods. “You can’t tell him of this test, nor can you run away. Perseus has three choices; run away, kill the monster with your help, or die trying.”

Something about his tone just screamed ‘I’m sorry’, and it pissed Nico off. It was his fault they were in this mess to begin with, Nico never wanted anything to do with love. He was about to tell him where he could shove their so called test, but the god had already banished.

This was ridiculous. He and Percy were not in love. They couldn’t defeat the Cetus. Eros should know this. _Aphrodite_ , who chose Annabeth for Percy, should know this. Why were they being such a pain when he was just trying to move on?

_“Because you haven’t moved on_ ,” said a treacherous voice in his head. _“Just saying you are doesn’t make it true.”_

The monster was gaining ground on Percy who, despite being in his element, was getting tired of dodging the many tentacles on top of the fangs.

During the couple of weeks since the end of the war, Nico had told himself many different arguments in favor of how he acted that day on Half-Blood Hill. He was in love ( _had been_ in love) with the idea of Percy, not Percy the person. Percy made him reckless and death-seeking. Loving Percy had never brought him any good. There was someone else that’d be better for him.

A little more time, and Nico would have believed all of it.

But with Percy in front of him, risking his life to save him because that’s who he was, made Nico feel the very familiar pang in his chest. Maybe his love for Percy was not as strong as it was a year ago, maybe he was resigned to the fact that it was one-sided, but he still loved him all the same, and he wouldn’t let him be killed so the Erotes could settle some stupid debate.

“Percy! Just run away! It can’t leave the water!” Nico shouted as the snake nearly missed the son of Poseidon’s head.

“What?! Are you crazy? This thing can still chomp you whole!”

“I’ll be fine, now go! I can shadow travel away when it gets close,” Nico pleaded. He was not going to be the reason Percy Jackson bit it.

“You think I’m an idiot? If you could shadow travel you’d have done it already!” Percy said back as he tried to lure the Cetus away from Nico.

“You’re not an idiot, that’s why you should know that you can’t beat it,” Nico said, desperate now. “Better me than the both of us!”

“Then _you’re_ the idiot, Nico!” Percy said as he finally managed to cut down one of the beast’s tentacles. The Cetus shrieked in pain and receded a bit, but Percy had his eyes centered on Nico. “Look, I know I haven’t been the best of friends, and that things between us are pretty awkward right now considering…” Percy vaguely gesticulated and blushed, seeming to have problems talking about Nico’s crush (to be fair, Nico would have loved to pretend that confession never happened at all, too).

Grave mistake, the monster took Percy’s awkwardness as an opening, and managed to leave a nasty gash on his left leg with its fangs.

“Percy!”

“But if you think I will leave you here to die, then I must be even worse than I thought!” Percy managed to get out as he rolled out of the way, his leg already healing thanks to the water surrounding him. “I won’t give up on you, Nico! No matter what, we get out of here together or not at all!”

And just like that, as if a switch was pressed, Nico could see a neon pink spot on the Cetus’s neck. As he looked closer, he noticed there were no big scales on that front, leaving a leathery, fragile patch of skin that practically screamed ‘WEAK POINT’.

“Percy, look there!”

“You’re not getting out of this conversation, di Angelo!”

“We’ll talk about that later, you dumbass! The skin on the Cetus’s neck is unprotected! Stab there!” He was now sure he was the only one able to see the pink neon light coming from the Cetus, otherwise Percy would have commented on it.

Percy summoned a wave and rode it ( _so he does surf well!_ ), artfully dodging the five tentacles the Cetus had left, and stabbing the thing in its neck.

The creature bucked wildly, trying to shake him off. Nico saw the pink light become thiner and wider, forming some sort of line around the neck.

“Slash!” Nico shouted as he realized what the change meant.

With a mutter Nico swore was along the lines of “so bossy”, Percy moved his sword as fast as he could, finally decapitating the monster. Its tentacles moved on their own for a few seconds, before they, too, fell limp on the water.

They both stayed still until the corpse began dissolving in the usual dust, and then grinned at each other.

“For the record, I don’t think you’re a bad friend at all,” Nico said as he gestured to his wrists so Percy could untie him. “I just didn’t want you to die, because, despite everything, I also think of you as a friend.”

Percy laughed and got closer, swinging his sword to break Nico free of his binds. The chains melted as if they were made from really hot wax, not leaving a single mark on Nico.

The embarrassment wasn’t over yet, apparently, because as soon as he was off the rock, Nico felt himself go unconscious on Percy’s chest.

* * *

_“The Cetus fell, do you need any more proof?” Anteros said smugly as the white room came into Nico’s view again._

_“Poseidon’s brat’s love didn’t seem very romantic though,” Himeros said and crossed his arms stubbornly._

_“Not yet anyhow,” Pothos said in a lethargic voice. It seemed his ham decreased when he didn’t deal with his specialty. “But you can’t deny the potential is there… Hedy?”_

_“I concede defeat,” Hedylogos sighed. He turned to Nico and smiled._

_“Nico di Angelo,” Eros bellowed from his seat. Aphrodite looked at him and giggled before winking at Nico. “We, the Erotes, bless your relationship with Perseus Jackson, regardless of what the Fates bring you two when it comes to love!”_

_“What?” Nico said, bemused._

_“It means that no matter if your relationship with Percy is romantic or not, my son and his council will make it bloom as it deserves,” Aphrodite said, pleased. “A relationship that future demigods will aspire to and write about… not too shabby, if I say so myself.”_

_“For now, return to him, he won’t be able to leave the island without your powers,” Hermaphrodite gave a small wave and snapped their fingers._

_Nico was ashamed to say he was already growing used to fainting in front of these gods._

* * *

“—ico… Nico!” Percy’s face was the first thing he saw when he woke up. He immediately got to his feet to put some distance between them. Percy seemed to pout a bit.

“Sorry, must have been the heat… was I out long?”

“Just a couple minutes,” Percy replied, shrugging. “You okay?”

“Yeah… Hey, Percy?” the son of Poseidon nodded to show he was listening. “I’m sorry you got involved in this. Some god wanted to prove a point with me, apparently.”

“Eh, it’s cool, I’ve had my own share godly jackasses, too,” The sky rumbled in threat. “I didn’t say any names, but if the shoe fits!” Percy shouted back.

“I better take you back home before you’re smited,” Nico laughed. Percy grinned and took his hand.

“You sure you can take it?” His brow creased with worry.

“Don’t sound like Will. I’m perfectly capable of Shadow Travelling with just one person!” Nico rolled his eyes. He wasn’t ten anymore! "And you know you could have broke my chains and we'd make a run for it, right?"

"Hey! I was busy fighting that thing! If anything, you should have figured that out," Percy said, but the smile tod Nico he wasn't offended.

As warmth flooded through Nico’s body as Percy squeezed his hand. He wondered if Andromeda felt something similar with her Perseus, when he unchained her and asked to marry her.

Maybe retreading the old myths wasn’t so bad, as long as the right person was there to act them out with him.

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Day 2 of the Percico Positivity Project “To állo mou misó”: "Character of a myth/story" I went with Andromeda because of the obvious connection to Perseus. But I managed to include the Erotes, too!
> 
> This was not the original plan, but I guess I let a bit of my bitterness at the unsatisfactory "not your type" scene here. I actually kind of want to make a sequel about them getting together. Maybe Percy gets told about how their relationship is blessed and begins noticing Nico? I'm not sure yet...


End file.
